Tantanon remembered the time when he and that guy were young, studying the books of the sages together. He slowly raised the wine pot and laughed softly, "Don't think of the errors of Confucianism, reading does not disappoint."
That person seemed to reply, "In the morning I am a farmer, in the evening I ascend to the Hall of Emperor."
Tantanon then continued to recite, "The court is full of Zhu Zigui, all scholars."
In the end, the two recited together, "The Emperor values heroes!"
Tantanon laughed loudly, not daring to look in that direction, afraid that he would not see that figure again in the next moment.
The old man drank the last mouthful of strong wine in the pot, placed the pot on the windowsill, and staggered out of the study.
Only my generation betrays the books of the sages. Since ancient times, the books of the sages have not betrayed me.
On the desk, there was a pot of wine that no one drank.
Since ancient times, the sages have been lonely.
Only the drinker leaves his name.
— —
Unexpectedly, after Wang Xionggui returned to the capital, the Emperor was not angry. Instead, he comforted this Guangling Confucian at the court meeting. However, after learning that the fate of Tangxi Sword Saint Lu Baijie was unknown, and that he did not join the rebel vassal king Zhao Bing, the young Emperor seemed to be moved.
After hearing this news, not only did the Emperor, Zhao Zhuan, let out a sigh of relief. In reality, all of the court officials from the Jiangnan Circuit felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders. Of the four great clans of Jiangnan, after Lu Daolin and Lu Baijie had successively become ministers of Liyang, the Lu family could be said to have surpassed them and become the leader of the Jiangnan officials. Once Lu Baijie, as the leader of the Southern party on the surface, betrayed the Zhao family of Liyang, it was certain to be a disaster in the officialdom of Liyang. Perhaps the three great clans of Jiangnan, who were of the same breath and branch as the Lu family, more or less hoped that Lu Baijie would rather commit suicide than live an ignoble life of riches and honor. Taking a step back, as long as there was no news of Lu Baijie, it was definitely a blessing in disguise.
In fact, after the incident of the Spring Snow Building, the performance of the generals was too disappointing.
Ji Zhou General Yuan Tingshan betrayed them.
The old general of the Spring Snow Building, Song Li, who had become a new nobleman of the Li Yang Imperial Court by quelling the remnants of West Chu, a general with real power, had rebelled.
Qi Shence, a disciple of one of Guangling Dao's great clans, was a first-rate talent of Shangyin Academy. He had just made a name for himself when he turned traitor.
Moreover, it was rumored that the three of them led a cavalry as the vanguard and were about to force their way into Lu Shengxiang's army south of the capital.
It was not that there was no encouraging news. The newly appointed Jiedushi Xu Gong of the Lianghuai Dao had deployed troops to the south, in preparation to form a north-south defensive line. He had already firmly secured several major passes and military towns, so that for the time being, there was no need to worry about Jingji's western gate.
The two Ji Zhou Deputy Generals, Han Fang and Yang Huchen, each personally led their elite riders to gallop down south, coordinating with the newly appointed Jingan Jiedushi Ma Zhongxian in the north and south, so that the central plains north of Guangling River would not be in turmoil.
The original Jiedushi Cai Nan's adopted son, Cai Bai, under the strong recommendation of Administrator Han Lin, was promoted to Hezhou General. He quickly led troops to Ji Zhou to assist Xu Gong, without any intention of shirking his responsibilities.
They were both local generals who held military power. On one side, there were traitors who wanted to help the dragon. On the other side, the wind knew the strong grass, and the board knew the loyal officials.
After Wang Xionggui, who was temporarily still the Guangling Jiedushi Administrator, safely returned to his mansion, he did not accept his wife's suggestion to immediately wash away his bad luck. Instead, he summoned two of his housekeepers and separately invited two people who had not interacted with him for many years. One was the assistant minister of the Secretariat, second only to the current Grand Secretary, Qi Yanglong, Zhao Youling. The other was Yin Maochun, who was appointed as the Minister of Personnel from the Hanlin Academy. Wang Xionggui's two trusted housekeepers were greatly surprised. It had to be known that not only had their master made it clear that he did not have any contact with those two officials, in reality, although the Crown Minister of Eternal Hui, Yin Maochun, and Zhao Youling were relatives by marriage, their relationship had always been shallow. After the marriage alliance, they had even less private contact.
Therefore, after the two of them left the deserted mansion, they both felt that they had made a wasted trip. However, the two of them did not expect that one person would come to visit right after they left, and his identity was prominent. Yuan Guo!
They both came from the "Spring of Eternal Hui." They were both officials who had a bright future in Zhang Lu. Furthermore, Yuan Guo's talent in his early years was even greater than the top three in the imperial examinations, Zhao Youling and Yin Maochun. He had always been the junior that Tantanon favored the most. However, because Yuan Guo's personality was too lax, his knowledge too high, and his talent too great, he was quickly surpassed by Zhao Youling and Yin Maochun in the officialdom. In the end, even Wang Xionggui and Han Lin left him far behind. He finally made a comeback after the Eternal Hui Auspicious Talisman and became the Minister of two ministries. Immediately after, because he did not agree with the Emperor, he quickly left Great An City and was demoted to the Two Liao Roads to be the deputy provincial governor. He did not accomplish much. Regardless of whether it was Gu Jiantang or the Prince of Jiaodong, Zhao Sui, neither of them paid much attention to Yuan Guo. Even the two Liao scholars did not like this "Mr. Nice Guy," who became less and less opinionated as he got older. Thus, Yuan Guo's arrival in the capital did not cause any waves. However, the juniors who had been tricked into drinking by Yuan Guo, this unscrupulous elder, since they were young, had a good gathering in Yuan Guo's manor.
Wang Xionggui's youngest son, Wang Yuanran, the most famous young master in the capital, had been abducted by Yuan Guo when he first drank with prostitutes. For such trivial matters, the former assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, Han Lin, who had always been gentle, courteous, and thrifty, had completely broken off relations with Yuan Guo, this old and disrespectful fellow. However, after so many years, whether it was Wang Yuanran, this group of idle hedonistic sons, or Yin Maochun's eldest legitimate son, Yin Changgeng, these ambitious young people, they all got along well with Yuan Guo, who did not have the airs of an elder.
When Zhao Youling and Yin Maochun, these two important figures of the central government, came to Wang Xionggui's study one after the other, the five most outstanding young people of Zhang Lu, other than Han Lin, who was far away in the northwest, were all gathered.
After the four of them sat down, they were all speechless for a moment.
As the host, Wang Xionggui raised his teacup and said with a light laugh, "I will use tea in place of wine. In the future, I will have to trouble you to take care of Zi Si."
Zi Si was Wang Yuanran's courtesy name, a gift from Tantanon's Huan Wen. However, the four of them all knew that there was another secret matter involved. In the beginning, Wang Xionggui had hoped that their teacher, Zhang Julu, would bestow him a courtesy name. However, Grand Secretary Zhang had never been interested in this type of icing on the cake, never opening his mouth to anyone. On the other hand, the knowledgeable Tantanon had always never refused anyone. Regardless of whether it was his colleagues in the officialdom or his scholarly friends, he would always accede to their requests. The reason why Tantanon's officialdom didn't collapse was probably because of this kind of bit by bit accumulation. In reality, back then, Wang Xionggui had only casually mentioned it, how could he have the extravagant hope that the Grand Secretary would make an exception for him? After all, back then, the young Wang Yuanran's reputation among the children of aristocratic families was something he, as his father, was well aware of. Perhaps not even the Grand Secretary would be willing to treat Wang Yuanran properly. Every year, during the first month of the new year, when Wang Yuanran and his older brothers followed Wang Xionggui to visit the Grand Secretary's residence, each time, they would be like mice entering a cat's nest, definitely not daring to say a single extra word. No wonder Wang Yuanran's courage was so small. Just think about it, when the Grand Secretary's sons saw Zhang Julu, it was as if they were facing a great enemy, not even daring to breathe loudly. How could Wang Yuanran dare act rashly?
Only, for some reason, Wang Yuanran's courtesy name Zi Si really did come from Zhang Julu's writing. It was just that he found an opportunity to pass it on to Huan Wen, not willing to make it public.
Wang Xionggui was overjoyed at this turn of events, it really wasn't an exaggeration to say that he cried tears of joy. However, the Minister of Revenue, who was well versed in the rules of officialdom, didn't dare make it public at all. Even when it came to his wife and son, he still didn't reveal the truth.
Yuan Guo was the first to speak. "What problem is there? Zi Si has turned over a new leaf and is no longer muddle-headed like before. This is a good thing. As an elder, of course, I have no reason to refuse."
Then, Yuan Guo turned his head with a smile toward Zhao Youling and purposely asked, "Sir Zhao, is that right?"
Zhao Youling glared at this fellow, but when faced with Wang Xionggui's almost pitiful gaze, he nodded and smiled. "No problem."
Only Yin Maochun didn't speak.
During the Spring of Eternal Hui, Yin Maochun was extremely outstanding. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been raised as a prime minister by Li Yang's previous dynasty's imperial teacher, Yuan Benxi. He was even more valued than the other person, Song Dongming.
Yin Maochun, who had been in charge of the Hanlin Academy for more than a decade, was also the most famous official in the world who deserved the reputation of "having students all over the world." In a sense, Yin Maochun had more potential than Zhao Youling, who was, for the time being, slightly higher in rank and more powerful than himself.
Wang Xionggui saw that Yin Maochun didn't speak, so he didn't force it. He didn't dare to force it.
Unexpectedly, after Yin Maochun put down his teacup, he said sparingly, "Very well."
Wang Xionggui suddenly said, "My teacher once said that scholars are duty-bound to rule the country. Scholars save the country are within their power, but scholars must not cause chaos."
Yuan Guo made a sound of agreement. "If I remember correctly, he did say that."
Wang Xionggui was silent for a moment. "At that time, the rebellion in West Chu was quelled. The three of you didn't see the chaos in the Jiang Temple in Guangling Path with your own eyes. You probably don't know that scholars are only willing to show the various states of the human world at the critical moment of life and death."
Wang Xionggui laughed self-deprecatingly. "After my dynasty quelled the Spring and Autumn Period and unified the Central Plains, I revised the history books of the previous dynasty and always saw some jokes. Some said that the water was too cold and the well was too small, some said that my house had four walls, no beams, no white silk. I didn't want to believe it before, but this time, I had to believe it after seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears. "
Wang Xionggui stood up and went to the window seat where the heavy snow was swirling. "During the celebration banquet of the Spring Snow Building, Chen Zhibao, Zhao Bing, and Nalan Youci came together aggressively. There were thousands of rebel soldiers downstairs. Only Mr. Tang Xi stood up and questioned Zhao Bing on the spot. And I, Wang Xionggui, am a second-rank official like Lu Baijie. Although I was angry, I didn't dare to say anything. "
Wang Xionggui turned his head and asked with a smile, "I've been thinking, if my teacher was present at that time, what would he say and do?"
Yin Maochun was lost in thought. Zhao Youling smiled but didn't say anything.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
